Bad parking, I don't feel bad.

[Scoobydoobywho]

We live very close to a school, our 2ds go to this school. So thank God as of yet we don't have to tussle with finding a place to park. But it annoys the hell out of me that people think it's ok to park either a little bit over the drive or completely blocking it. How do they know I'm not going anywhere. So anyway I get back with ds5 and there is a car 2 feet over the dropped kerb. Luckily there were parking/traffic wardens out, so I spoke to one of the who came and had a look. Took down the car details and photos and gave them a ticket. The amount of times the school has to send out messages saying please park considerably is ridiculous. Is it wrong that I don't feel bad about it.

I live next to DS's school. It's so handy!

BTW I LOVE the idea of a little note encouraging people to block drive ways! Round here most drives can probably fit 2 cars end to end (as in you couldn't actually open the boot or garage) so presumably I have to make the note HUGE so it can be seen from the road and over the top of the cars? Or maybe I can get an A board displayed on the bonnet of my car or on the pavement? Must remember to flip it round though!

Although...what happens if I'm out in the car at 1ish and run late so I don't get back until 3? Can't park on my driveway as my lovely signed encouraged people to park there. Maybe I could get a digital sign and text it my whereabouts and ETA?

This sounds lovely, convenient and inexpensive!

I think that’s really unfair. The people whose streets the problem gets transferred to did not choose to live next to a school with all the inevitable problems that brings. The people right next to the school, for whatever reason, did choose to live next to a school so if there are unfortunately problems, they should bear the brunt tbh

The school was built after I moved here. About 7 or 8 years later.

By your logic, there shouldn’t be any parking for school parents in my street!

If the immediate roads in an adjacent radius are restricted to residents only, then the next parking radius is significantly wider. It’s a basic rule of geometry. Instead of parking in say the 4 nearest streets, the parents have to go farther afield, to say the next 12 streets. So there is a greater choice, resulting in less cars per street. Which means less issues with overcrowding, dangerous driving near schools, blocking emergency vehicles etc

It makes perfect sense. Except for people who whinge about walking an extra two minutes

It's anti social and lazy to park over the access to a private driveway. YANBU.
If there is no space near the schools park further away and walk It's not going to hurt the little darlings to trot a few hundred meters more.

Well done OP.

So many people think they can park wherever the damn well please and sod everybody else. Perhaps this particular driver will have learned their lesson.

@Upamountain43

Ok - well most parents now drop the kids and shoot off to work so have little choice about taking the car - maybe we should ask why after years and years of this being an issue no one is tackling the key problems surrounding parking not just outside schools.

Personally i think if you did not need to go out and they were only just over the dropped kerb it was pretty mean spirited to involve a traffic warden.

If I lived close to a school I would have a sign outside saying I'm not going out please feel free to park over my drive and another one saying I need to get out today please leave clear.

If you can only be one thing in this life - be kind - you are actually in a position to try and help out this difficult situations.

I'm sorry but I don't believe a single person who claims that they had no choice other than to block someone's driveway.
Park behind the last car? The next street over? I only know the first schools round here but they are all surrounded by houses and streets. They aren't exactly is inaccessible places.

I've been people parked on my street (less than 3 minutes walk from the school) who sit in their car with the engine on and speed off to bag a space right outside the school doors when a car moves. It's ridiculous! Let your kids use their legs! Or bring them a scooter/bike so they can glide back to the car if you have to. Just park responsibly.

Another thing that pisses me off is when people park half on the pavement so that you can't walk past the car when their door is open.

Our school is in the 3 tier school system so the first school is nursery-Yr4 so every child is basically in car seats of some sort. That means that the vast majority of parents driving will need to spend a few minutes fastening their child(ren) into their seats, taking off their coats etc. Then they give you hacky looks or moan if you stand and wait for them to close the door so you can pass. Sorry but I'm not walking my 4 year old onto the busy road because you chose to block the path. Roads round here are definitely wide enough for cars to park on the road on both sides and still have room for another car to pass. No need to pavement park at all!

During Covid restrictions when DDs school had a one way system through the school, you would see parents drive to the entrance then one drive to the exit to wait. Usually with the engine idling while kids had no choice but to walk past.

@hangrylady

Dobbing them in to a traffic warden was a dick move, but I'd have done the same!

In what way was it a dick move?

are you seriously lecturing OP about "being kind" when someone else has selfishly decided that the rules don't apply to them?

I've seen Will Storr interviewed about his book, The Status Game , and he mentions MN for its performative parenting and doormatting (I paraphrase). The first couple of times I was a bit surprised but there are times when I think he's not wrong and the advice about the 2 signs is one of those times.

www.amazon.co.uk/Status-Game-Social-Position-How/dp/B097TV68WL/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

You did the right thing OP. They feel entitled to be able to park wherever they believe they 'need' to.

The origins of "be kind" came from Caroline Flack, in response to being completely eviscerated on social media

The origins of the words “be kind” and the sentiment behind it date no further back than Caroline Flack? Seriously?

@Scoobydoobywho this happens to my dsis all the time. She lives very close to a secondary and primary school.
Due to peoples careless attitude she has been late to GP appointment with her youngest :(

I think people who live near a school and complain about parking issues fall into the same category as people who live next to a pub and complain about the noise

(That category is: idiots)

@kitkatsky

YANBU. I live next door to a private school that my kids don't go to. The ridiculous parking often means I have to walk then on the road because we can't get past on the pavement. It drives me crazy

Is the fact that it's a private school of any particular relevance? IME, dick parking isn't the preserve of private school parents. There are just an awful lot of stressed parents trying to rush to work and drop children off, regardless of the type of school.

All that said, I think you did the right thing, OP.

@HardbackWriter

I think people who live near a school and complain about parking issues fall into the same category as people who live next to a pub and complain about the noise

(That category is: idiots)

Ah so it's those who have bought/rented the house who are idiots, not the ones who think it's perfectly acceptable to park across or even on other people's private driveways?

So you're saying that the homeowner/occupier is 'asking for it' by buying a house near a school?

Yeah, those people complaining about behaviour that is an offence in their area are just idiots, aren’t they?

Imagine being such an idiot that you cannot come up with an analogy that accurately describes the situation rather than one that erroneously uses a legal act (noise below a certain level) to compare to one that is an offence.

I get annoyed with the parking also.

We have parents who park in the fucking bus stop. This monring i was standing waiting for DS1 to sort his tie out and someone parked in the bus stop- got out and walked their kid into school. There were 2 free parking bays in front of me, right next to the bus stop. Just why?

We also have a community centre opposite the school. Parents are allowed to park there in exchange for a suggested donation of 310 a year. The stipulation is that because of the surface of the car park that no 4 wheel drives should park there. This is ignored all the time. How selfish do you have to be to see a generous offer and fucking ignore it?

(There are 3 council parking spaces near the school- and the school has negotiated with the council that parents can park for free twice a day if they register their number plates - no-one seems to have taken this up, because we have double parking, parking on double lines, parking in the bus spots and all that. ) Just surrounded by arseholes really.

Not a donation of 310, but £10.00

@givethatbabyaname

The origins of "be kind" came from Caroline Flack, in response to being completely eviscerated on social media

The origins of the words “be kind” and the sentiment behind it date no further back than Caroline Flack? Seriously?

In the current iteration, yes. If you read the post I quoted when I wrote this you will see that the poster had written in full "in a world where you can be anything, be kind" - and it's this exact phrase which came from Caroline Flack. I picked up on it because it was Caroline's subsequent death and the media coverage of the Instagram post where she'd said this, which set off the wave of #BeKind social media posts.

I live in the US and all the schools have a kiss and drop system where you drive up in your car, the kids get out of their seat supervised by a member of staff (who helps if they can't undo their own car seat ) and then you drive off, the next car in the queue drives up and their kid gets out.

When they get to over 11 years old they don't even need a member of staff supervising the process.

It's a bit annoying sometimes if you are at the back of the long queue but in general saves hassle with parking etc. Even when the schools themselves have all been built with big car parks anyway.